December - Coptic Wiki

The Dead Mouse (1) Self in Dealing with God (24)

The Dead Mouse (1) Self in Dealing with God (24) Introduction Pride, Ego and Conviction are the great war in the spiritual life, and they will remain fighting us as long as we are alive. Only God alone can protect us from these. The dead mouse is the nick name for this hard war. …

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The Fate of the White Monastery Library

Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

The Fate of the White Monastery Library THE LIBRARY OF the White Monastery, founded during the fourth century by Apa Pegol, an uncle of Shenoute, went through an outstanding period in the centuries that followed its creation. During the fourteenth century, however, the Arab occupation and the Mamluk attacks sounded the death knell for this …

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Manichaeism and Gnosticism in the Panopolitan Region between Lykopolis and Nag Hammadi

Heritage, History / By Armia FAYEZ

Manichaeism and Gnosticism in the Panopolitan Region between Lykopolis and Nag Hammadi TO DEAL WITH the religious movements of Manichaeism and Gnosticism in the area of Sohag presents a good many problems and raises several questions that will perhaps never be answered. This fact depends on our lack of evidence concerning these two strong ‘enemies’ …

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The Art of Coptic Churches

Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

The Art of Coptic Churches WE WENT TO THE CHURCH while the elders of the monastery went with us. There were pictures of monks on the wall of the place, representing our monastic fathers: Antony the Great and Apa Pachom and Apa Paule and Apa Makarios.21 These were on one side and the archbishops of …

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The Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga: Points of Departure for a Relative Chronology

History, Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga: Points of Departure for a Relative Chronology This chapter discusses the identification of the superiors of the Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga and presents some points of departure for reconstructing a relative chronology of this monastic community on the basis of Coptic epitaphs and documents.[1] …

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Intellectual Life in Middle Egypt: The Case of the Monastery of Bawit (Sixth-Eighth Centuries)

History, Places / By Armia FAYEZ

Intellectual Life in Middle Egypt: The Case of the Monastery of Bawit (Sixth-Eighth Centuries) THE MONASTERY OF BAWIT is located on the west bank of the Nile, on the edge of the desert. The site was excavated at the beginning of the twentieth century by a team from the Institut franais d’archeologie orientale, led by …

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The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: History and Heritage (Reflections of Its Monks)

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: History and Heritage (Reflections of Its Monks) Introduction[1] The history of the Coptic Orthodox Church makes no mention of any information about the monastic community or the Holy Virgin Church in the Qusqam region until the fourteenth-century ad. The name Qusqam (al-Muharraq Monastery) is …

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Christianity in Asyut in Modern History

History / By Armia FAYEZ

Christianity in Asyut in Modern History A Historical Introduction By the second half of the eighteenth century, Asyut had taken Girga’s place as the capital of Upper Egypt. With Muhammad ‘Ali’s interest in administratively organizing Egypt’s governorates, the construction of the governorate building in Asyut began in 1811. In 1822, Asyut’s population was around seventeen …

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The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: Reflections of Its Monks Today Introduction The value of ancient monuments, sometimes, is not in the material they are made of, but rather in their living heritage and ancestral spirit.[1] How much more it is if these were blessed by the Lord himself, such …

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Theotokos Or The Mother Of God

Liturgy / By Armia FAYEZ

THEOTOKOS OR THE MOTHER OF GOD St. Mary’s Maternity in the Bible The Holy Scripture witnesses to St. Mary’s motherhood of the Son of God, for it calls her Son “God” (). At the annunciation, angel Gabriel speaks of the Child St. Mary is to conceive as “the Son of the Most High”, “the Holy …

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